(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to milking technology and, more specifically, the invention relates to a device for determining the index at individual productivity and feed ration of animals.
To carry out regular and efficient, zootechnical, veterinary and selection work with a dairy farm herd, it is necessary to have some initial information for setting up individual feed rates for animals depending on their productivity. In this case the calculation of individual milk yield from each cow is a labour-consuming intermediate operation for determining a parameter making it possible to evaluate the productivity of each animal by a preset index, which is then used for determining the optimum individual feed rates, mainly concentrated food rations.
The operative setup of an optimum ration of concentrated food depending on the animal productivity is necessary for increasing the milk yield (the genetic potential productivity of each animal is utilized more effectively), taking into account the fact that the cost of milk production at farms is up to 75% of the expenses for such a production. In addition, the control of the feeding procedure requires storage of data files on daily milk yields and feed rations during lactation period. Therefore, in organization of zootechnical, veterinary and selection work at dairy farms, it is important to automate the acquisition and processing of information on each animal and to reduce the amount of manual operations on determining the index of productivity and individual food ration. The type of information submitted should be convenient for its operative use by the farm stock breeders.
(2) Background of the Related Art
Known in the art is an individual milking unit (an advertisement brochure of the Rezenkne Milking Unit Works "Agregat inuividualnogo doeniya AID-1", 1984) having a cylindrical container for collection of milk connected to the milking apparatus.
This device does not allow one to determine the index of individual productivity and feed rations and, therefore, requires additional labour-consuming operations increasing the cost.
Also known in the art is a milking apparatus with digital recording of the milk yield ("Dojarka z cytrowa rejestracia przebiegu dojenia", Maszyny i ciagniki rolnicze, Polska, 1987, 6, part 33, No. 1, pp. 21-23) comprising a cylindrical container for collection of the milk yield communications with a milking apparatus, a float provided inside the container, a rope connected to a counterweight through a drive roller coupled to the axis of a rotary-pulse converter connected to an electronic unit.
After the milking apparatus has been put into operation, the milk from the milking apparatus flows into the cylindrical container and acts on the float which through the rope rotates the drive roller thus actuating the rotary-pulse converter. The latter sends pulses to the electronic recording unit thus recording the individual milk yield from every cow depending on the amount of milk in the container when milking each animal.
This apparatus determines only the traditional parameter - milk yield as a primary parameter taking into account the individual characteristics of each animal, however, it does not provide a possibility of determining the final parameters required for zooveterinary and selection work, i.e. the index of individual productivity and feed ration of the animals, and this restricts the field of its application and requires additional labour consumption.
Furthermore, the milking apparatus has a complex design and makes use of the imperfect contact principle of data recording based on the friction force, e.g. in roller supports and in contact of the float rope with these rollers. This results in errors in the process of determining the milk yield and its digital recording by means of the electronic unit. The absence of a computing unit with a control desk limits the functional possibilities of the apparatus in the process of its preliminary adjustment and monitoring of its readings. The absence of a computing unit does not allow one to correct the reading taking into account the properties of the medium being measured and the milking apparatus design and also makes it difficult to calibrate the cylindrical container. As a result, the zootechnical, veterinary and selection work is hindered, since such a job imposes high requirements on the accuracy and reliability of the initial data being processed in an ordinary or computer-aided dairy farm control system.
Also known in the art is a device for recording the amount of milk yield (SU, A, 1109092) comprising a cylindrical milk container connected to the milking apparatus and to a milk conduit through a milk suction branch pipe. Arranged inside the cylindrical container is milk level sensor made in the form of a float with a magnet. The milk level identifying unit is made in the form of a group of gercons mounted along the height of the cylindrical container and capable of interacting with the float magnet. The outputs of the gercons are connected to the inputs of a computing unit secured on the cylindrical container.
In the process of machine milking and filling the container with milk, the float rises up together with the milk level. The magnetic field of the annular magnet of the rising float acts in succession on the individual gercons mounted outside the cylindrical container along a helical line.
As soon as the gercon operates, the control signal is sent to the computing unit, which calculates the milk yield of every cow. This information is presented in a digital code; the computing unit is programmed by the operator from the control desk.
This prior art device is also not adapted for determining the index of individual productivity and the feeding standards for the animals, since it acquires primary information - milk yield and not the corresponding index of individual productivity. Therefore, additional processing of this primary information (milk yield) is necessary to find the index of individual productivity.
Furthermore, the prior art device does not make it possible to determine the feed ration for the animals.
The manual programming of the computing unit (no automatic programming means are available) complicates the operation of the device and is not free from a possibility of introducing errors by the operators, which errors reduce the reliability of the results obtained. Simultaneous operation of the personnel with several milking apparatus without automatic programming of the computing unit reduces the productivity of labour.
The absence of an element for stabilization of the milk level, when milking nervous cows may lead to erroneous operation of the gercons and distortion of the data obtained, which may disorient the farm personnel in determining a real index of individual productivity and correct feed rations.